Le Tour 2014 – Stage 19

Maubourguet Pays du Val d’Adour – Bergerac

Distance: 208.5 kilometers.

A hilly stage with a single Category 4 climb near the end that won’t be much of a challenge after the last few stages. Most riders will want to conserve their legs for the individual time trial tomorrow.

Rain, winds, hail, and flat tires were the main elements of this stage, which ended in a crash that could have cost Peter Sagan his Green Jersey if he had been too injured to continue.

Garmin-Sharp riders took control of the stage with the hard-working Tom Jelte Slagter setting up Ramunas Navardauskas to cross the finish alone.

Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 ) [Yellow] 85h 29′ 33″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 051 ) [Green] 417 points
Rafal Majka ( Pol – TCS – 034 ) [Polka Dot] 181 points
Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) 2 [White]

Team: AG2R La Mondiale ( ALM – 081-089 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Ramunas Navardauskas ( Ltu – GRS – 097 )
Combative: Tom Jelte Slagter ( Ned – GRS – 098 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 )
2 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) + 07′ 10″
3 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 07′ 23″
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte ( Esp – MOV – 011 ) + 07′ 25″
5 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 09′ 27″
6 Tejay Van Garderen ( US – BMC – 141 ) + 11′ 34″
7 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 061 ) + 13′ 56″
8 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 067 ) + 14′ 15″
9 Leopold Konig ( Cze – TNE – 201 ) + 14′ 37″
10 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre ( Esp – TFR – 169 ) + 16′ 25″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 151 ) + 17′ 48″
12 Frank Schleck ( Lux – TFR – 161 ) + 21′ 33″
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 131 ) + 29′ 58″
14 Yury Trofimov ( Rus – KAT – 029 ) + 32′ 30″
15 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – BEL – 064 ) + 34′ 30″
16 Brice Feillu ( Fra – BSE – 211 ) + 38′ 36″
17 Christopher Horner ( US – LAM – 114 ) + 39′ 28″
18 Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – SKY – 005 ) + 41′ 34″
19 John Gadret ( Fra – MOV – 013 ) + 41′ 41″
20 Tanel Kangert ( Est – AST – 046 ) + 50′ 34″
21 Ben Gastauer ( Lux – ALM – 085 ) + 52′ 40″
22 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 007 ) + 55′ 52″
23 Geraint Thomas ( GB – SKY – 008 ) + 56′ 26″
24 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – OPQ – 072 ) + 01h 01′ 06″
25 Cyril Gautier ( Fra – EUC – 154 ) + 01h 02′ 20″
26 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TCS – 038 ) + 01h 12′ 36″
27 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 074 ) + 01h 16′ 45″
28 Peter Velits ( Svk – BMC – 149 ) + 01h 18′ 27″
29 Tony Gallopin ( Fra – LTB – 134 ) + 01h 24′ 55″
30 Arnold Jeannesson ( Fra – FDJ – 124 ) + 01h 26′ 53″

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

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